Creating an integration with a partner and jointly bringing that solution to market requires a structured process. You need a set of criteria for making integration decisions that relies on data and user insights.
Before committing to building and launching an integration, you need to consider the following in the early development and planning stages.
Before investing time and resources in a technology partnership, it’s essential to understand your strategic objectives and where your organization needs marketing support the most.
Create a process to identify the traits of an ideal SaaS integration partner, including evaluating market presence, complementary offerings, shared values, and more.
You should also account for technical compatibility. For example, assess the viability of integration by looking at the ease of mapping between the two applications and if they are legacy or API systems. Assessing technical compatibility early on will help identify potential issues with integrating and long-term maintenance upfront.
For more details on this process, read about creating ideal co-marketing profiles for technology partners here.
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Assess the alignment between your organization's Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP) and your partner’s.
Go beyond surface-level benefits — delve into shared accounts, explore joint opportunities, and truly understand what resonates with your customers. The goal is to ensure the integration is mutually beneficial for everyone involved.
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Clear and measurable integration performance and go-to-market objectives should be established. It's all about being realistic and measurable — whether it's boosting how many people are using the integration, reaching a broader market, or increasing revenue.
Decide what data you’ll share with your partner and how to deliver it to them. This ensures that both parties are on the same page. Shared data can cover things like customer information, ongoing opportunities, and insights on your pipeline.
Take the time to really get to know your users. As a result of user research, you should understand an integration's audience's needs, preferences, and behavioral patterns.
Get a clear idea of what they need, like, and their user behavior. Armed with this knowledge, you can craft an informed integration strategy, positioning, and messaging that hits the mark, solves real problems, and delivers a great user experience.
Related Content: Building a Support Strategy for Your B2B SaaS Integrations
You and your partners must determine the unique benefits your integration provides, and the pain points it solves. Craft a crystal-clear message about why your integration is a game-changer, catering to both of your audiences.
Put together real-life examples to show exactly how the integration can solve problems or streamline workflows for your users.
Before rolling out an integration to everyone, make sure it’s top-notch. How? By putting it to the test with a group of customers or beta testers. Gather feedback, then make necessary tweaks.
A successful beta test will give you confidence that your integration works smoothly, meets functionality standards, and is usable and reliable.
By nailing these early steps, you'll set yourself up nicely for the real action — ensuring your plan for internal education and external marketing execution is spot-on, well-defined, and ready to hit your success metrics out of the park.
